For years, the dairy industry "owned" the category milk. In our minds, milk meant the stuff from cows. As a result, other forms of milk needed a descriptor. For example, nursing a baby wasn't about just "milk," it was about breast milk. 

Marketers know there is nothing better than dominating a category. Like FedEx created and dominated the category of overnite delivery, the dairy industry (a family of brands) dominated the category of milk. 

But, in the words of the great singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, "Times, they are a-changing."

Check out the game on the Got Milk website to find "real" milk. Here's a screen shot of how they show what one can only assume are the "fake" milks.

Then take a look at their "Real Milk comes from cows" TV ad. Seems that the California Milk Processor Board (they're behind the long-running the Got Milk campaign) is getting defensive. That means Silk and other brands of Soy Milk, Almond Milk, Coconut Milk, Rice Milk, and others are taking not just shelf space, but market share from cow milk folks. Hence, the campaign to equate cow milk with real milk. 

As a long-time consumer of the competing non-dairy products (when my "raised on rice milk" kids were little and lactose-intolerant, they heard the refrain cow milk is for baby cows at least a million times), I see this as a prime example of a category (milk) growing beyond its dominant product line (cow milk).

Will we see the day when restaurants say, "Would you like cow's milk, coconut milk, or rice milk with your cereal?" I suspect we will.

I ran across Aviva, a global insurance company, through this ad at a U.S. airport. I was immediately intrigued by their customer-centered mission: YOU. While arguably not a formal mission statement (most aren't very good anyway), it makes manifestly clear where they want us to think their focus lies.

And Aviva is consistent with this message throughout their communications. For example, their brand promise explanation is all about a distinctive customer experience that recognizes the value of each one of us:

Aviva has committed to deliver one distinctive experience for our customers, wherever we are in the world - we want them each to feel that "no one recognises me like Aviva".

And they nicely tie this intention to their cause marketing efforts. In fact, their brand is the centerpiece of all their communications. Check it out here.

Aviva (which means "Spring" in Hebrew) gets that branding is a core and essential business discipline. They are a good example of a company in which marketing and customer research have seats at the decision-making table.

Now, having generated such high expectations, it's especially critical that they deliver on their promise.

Whenever I see an ad for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, I'm reminded of the marketing power of color. They consistently make such good use of the color orange and yellow. I know the ad is about Reese's instantly (and I get hungry!). That's powerful use of color to increase brand awareness and recognition. Which ties into colorful in-store promotions. Which sells products. Check out their website and the video below.

Some colors are owned by a broad cause, like green connotes good for the environment across industries. Then within industries, there is the opportunity to increase brand awareness and recognition by "owning" a color. Quick, what color comes to mind when you think Home Depot? Lowe's? Orange and red, right? UPS used to use "brown" as their primary differentiator. Not service quality, not speed, and not safety, but the color brown.

In healthcare, we under-use color as a brand differentiator. Could say, a sky blue incubator stand out from the others that are mostly industrial grey? Sure, why not. In public health, could CDC use its blue color to brand everything it creates and thereby help elected officials, partners and the public quickly attach CDC's credibility to it? Probably.

How is color used in your industry? Who owns which colors? Can you benefit by color marketing?

I just got back from a week in Panama, where I met up with my backpacking daughter Jessa. Besides the incredible beauty of the San Blas islands (below), the peacefulness of El Valle de Anton, and the warmth of the Panamian people, there were of course exciting marketing lessons to be learned (yes, even on vacation!). Here are my top 3 "power" marketing learnings from Panama:

1. The power of a monopoly: There is one and only one waterway that connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans - the Panama Canal. The huge cargo ship we saw pass through the "big ditch" paid over $250,000 for the privilege. And that's one of roughly 15,000 vessels that goes through the canal every year. Besides the money, the reality of limited choice and lack of real competition forces the shipping industry (i.e. the customers) to accommodate the canal, vs. the canal accommodating the industry. That's why there are terms like "Panamax," which refers to the size limits for vessels traveling through the Panama Canal. As Wikipedia explains:

The allowable size is limited by the width and length of the available lock chambers, by the depth of the water in the canal and by the height of the Bridge of the Americas. The limits have influenced those constructing cargo ships, giving clear parameters for ships destined to traverse the Panama Canal. "Panamax" has been in effect since the opening of the canal in 1914.

2. The power of social norms: This, I'm embarrassed to admit. We were borrowing bikes at a B&B in the small mountain town of El Valle, to ride to the zoo. And despite our consulting work over the last few years with CDC’s Center for Injury Prevention & Control on road safety, and despite my “role modeling” for my daughter who was with me, I chose to not wear a bike helmet. My rationale? Mostly that no one in the town was wearing a helmet. Also there weren’t that many cars. And it didn’t “feel” risky. All copouts I’m afraid, and testimony to the powerful influence of social norms.

3. The power of brand association: Whenever I saw a toucan (not uncommon in Central America). I immediately thought of… Froot Loops cereal. Then the TV ads with Toucan Sam that I first saw as a kid. In my mind, for better or worse, Kellogg's Froot Loops “owns” toucans. A demonstration of the power of brand association, especially for an uncommon “thing” like the toucan.

Public Health has struggled for years to tell its story- ironically a very worthy story- in a powerful and compelling way. We worked with CDC 10 years ago to help them tackle being misunderstood and to create and communicate their brand identity - with what we called Putting Science into Action for a Safer and Healthier America. Then Washington State's Department of Health (WDOH) engaged us to hep them overcome being "underknown and undervalued" - and therefore underfunded. The WDOH central idea? Always Working for A Safer & Healthier Washington, coupled with three identity themes. In both cases, our research showed it was not just about health, but the more emotional issue of keeping people safer, that resonated across the board. Plus action - public health is about taking action that makes a difference. Here's a one pager I wrote in Government Executive on Building a Brand Identity.

And here are three examples of relatively low budget, high production value videos that do a good job at making public health come to life and personally relevant. They all capture the "safer" aspect of public health and show the value of public health action across its many "touch points." Most importantly, they all convey a message that hits home.

The first one, from American Public Health Association's (APHA) Healthiest Nation in One Generation campaign, shows through sophisticatedly simple word graphics, one person's interactions from birth through adulthood with Public Health (including 4 mentions of Motor Vehicle Injury Prevention, but who's counting!).

This second one, is from the This is Public Health campaign of the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH). Along with student voices and simple red stickers, it powerfully SHOWS in fast MTV-like style, the numerous touch points of public health. 

And to tie it all together, this video by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), which is the national organization representing local health departments, goes from showing (again with sophisticated graphics and word art) what a world without Public Health would be, to the good we have here in America, thanks to our everyday heroes (truly!) in our local Public Health Departments. It ends by showcasing a Public Health logo, given that when public health is working best, it's mostly invisible.

Together, these videos shine a light on what may be the most important and valuable (and often invisible!) service our country provides to us: Public Health. And a professional community I am so proud to be a part of.

Apple has become synonymous with product innovation. We have a number of clients in the life sciences, in healthcare, and even in public health who say they aspire to be like Apple. What they really mean is they want to make very hip, cutting-edge, trend-setting products. They want customers with cult-like devotion. And they want to score major "cool points" -- lots of 'em. All while making a ton of money.

Which is a problem. Why? It reminds me of a large, national, nonprofit we work with that said they want to be world class. The question was, are they willing to pay the price of being world class? Like letting go of mediocre employees, investing in top training programs, rewarding high performance, etc. 

Similarly, companies that want to establish a value discipline of innovation need to be willing to pay the price. In the development phase alone, Apple makes a huge investment. For example:

• A small team of extremely well-paid, top-notch designers with a maniacal focus on perfection.
• Who create 10 perfect mock-ups for each potential new product feature, from which three mock-ups will be selected for further exploration, to result in the feature in as perfect a form as possible.
• Which means Apple knows in advance that they will get rid of 90% (9 of 10 mock-ups) of what they create.
• And happily makes that investment.
• Fueled by leadership that is relentlessly committed to winning by innovating.

Which results in game-changing, industry-inventing, highly profitable products with incredible demand.

And Apple's style of innovation invite a fundamental re-positioning of form and function. As Alain Briellat put it in his excellent analysis:

"Apple doesn’t sell functional products; they sell fashionable pieces of functional art."

So... two simple questions for you, dear reader:

1) What do you sell?

2) Are you willing to invest what it takes to be a top innovator in your space?

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P.S. Check out these classics: Peter Drucker on The Discipline of Innovation, and Treacy & Wiersema on Value Disciplines.

This weekend I saw a Goodwill truck with this big and bold slogan: "Getting people jobs." I was impressed.

As an international organization, their homepage states their mission clearly and succinctly - and in plain language: 

We help people who are looking for work or better jobs so they can better provide for their families.

Goodwill is a good example of a major non-profit that knows how to brand itself and tie its brand to its mission. Cone's Nonprofit Power Brand 100 study ranks Goodwill Industries International as #5 among leading nonprofit brands in America, with a brand value of over $2.5 billion. I think if Goodwill directly connects donating with jobs, their brand image and fundraising will be even stronger.

The National Pork Board (NPB) is aiming to increase sales by repositioning its domestic pork promotion campaign. “Pork. The Other White Meat has 90 percent recognition, but recognition does not equate to high demand,” CEO Chris Novak says in the online trade newsletter Pork.  “The current campaign compares pork to others (chicken); it doesn’t let it stand on its own.” A new ad campaign and approach will be announced next year.

Hmm, I always thought comparing to a well known product or brand and clearly contrasting what makes you different was a good way to carve out mindshare and market share. Positioning, by definition, always involves a comparison to identify the class of product and a distinction to stand out from others within the class. So...how might NPB reposition pork? Some ideas from NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me blog.

Pork: Secretly loved by Jews for 5,000 years.

Last week, I was at the mall with my wife and kids. Following along, I wasn't paying much attention to where we were going, though I did her someone say "Nordstrom" as we walked into the nearest department store. Passing the shoes, I noticed their selection was well below par. I was also amazed a the low prices and Kohl's-like display of men's pants. Then when I asked for help on two occasions, both salespeople simply pointed and said "over there." At this point, I knowingly said to my wife, "The service is really bad for Nordstrom's and some of the prices are so low!" She looked at me and said, "Moshe, this is Sears. You've been here for 20 minutes and you still thought it was Nordstrom??"

Rather than trying to convince her that I was doing such a good marketing experiment that I didn't even know I was doing it (inadvertently doubleblind, as it were), I simply said, "yes."

Looking back, I realize how well Nordstrom lives its brand promise of service and quality. And how Sears can win on price - sometimes. And lastly, how Nordstorm can transform clothes shopping (even for a non-shopper like yours truly) into an "experience." Now that's a brand!

I was making a deposit in the bank and saw this "rock" on the counter by the teller. In fact, there was one of these promotional items by every teller branding the solidness of Union Bank. (The pen is there for scale).

Then I picked it up. It was made of soft foam. About as solid as a marshmallow. Is that really the brand message Union Bank wants to convey?? Trust us with your money. Because we're solid ...like a marshmallow. The morale of the story is the medium can be the message. Think it through Union Bank!